Sermon for 6/12/22 "Spirit of Truth" 16 Minutes

John 16:12-15

This morning I'll be reading John chapter 16 verses 12 through 15. And I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible. John 16:12-15 In these verses,,, like the other verses that we have looked at in John recently,,, Jesus is still talking to the disciples before He is arrested,,, trying to comfort them because He knows that "sorrow has filled their heart." John 16:12–15 (HCSB) 12 “I still have many things to tell you, but you can’t bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak whatever He hears. He will also declare to you what is to come. 14 He will glorify Me, because He will take from what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 Everything the Father has is Mine. This is why I told you that He takes from what is Mine and will declare it to you. God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning. Let us pray: Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with everyone here today and all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen. ----------------------------------------------------------- Last Sunday we looked at Romans 8:14-17 and God’s “Power for Holy Living”.

We learned that our road isn’t going to be easier just because we are Christians.

If anything,,, it becomes harder because Satan will do everything that he can to steer us in the wrong direction,,, keep us on the wide road,,, the way of the world,,, and off the narrow path where Jesus has told us to stay.

And it’s so easy to give in when Satan tells us,,, we are terrible Christians,,, we make to many mistakes,,, fall short too many times,,, have sinned in the worst kind of way,,, or sinned too much,,, God can never love us because of all of this,,, and on and on,,, with all of the negative thoughts that plague us day after day,,, and Satan wants us to believe,,, this,,,

But,,, we know,,, that God has prepared for us,,, a way going forward,,, and given us “Power for Holy Living”,,, that Satan can never get around,,, if we will just learn to lean on God going forward,,, instead of trying to lean on our own strength.

We can’t live the life that God has planned for us,,, we can’t stay on the narrow road that Jesus guides us to,,, without the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit along the way.

This morning we will continue our lesson as we learn more about the Holy Spirit and His job guiding us in our daily activities.

So lets continue as we see how these verses will help us in our walk with God this week.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verse 12 says: 12 “I still have many things to tell you, but you can’t bear them now.

There were still … many other things that Jesus had to tell the disciples, but they weren’t able to handle them at this time.

Jesus knew what was in their hearts,,, and He knew what they could take,,, or understand at this time without it being too much for them.

This is an important principle of teaching,,, and we must remember this in our own learning as well.

We must remember not to get too impatient as we read and study.

Slow down,,, allow the Holy Spirit to guide us as we learn.

There must be certain things learned,,, and in a certain order,,, as we become ready for them,,, before more advanced truths,,, can be received.

Jesus never overwhelmed His disciples with His teaching.

He gave it to them,,, only when He thought that they were ready for it,,, and that still applies today.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verse 13 says: 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak whatever He hears. He will also declare to you what is to come.

The work that was begun by Jesus,,, was to be continued by the Spirit of truth.

He would guide them into “all truth”.

We can understand today that the “truth” was given to the disciples in their lifetime,,, which they passed on to others,,, through their teachings,,, and their writings,,, and we have all of that today,,, in our New Testament.

And all of this,,, added to the Old Testament,,, completed God’s written revelation to man.

But it’s true today,,, just as it has ever since that time,,, that the Spirit guides God’s people into all the “truth”.

He does it through the Scriptures.

He will only speak the things that are given to Him to say by the Father and the Son.

It says in this verse,,, “For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak whatever He hears. He will also declare to you what is to come. .”

This,,, of course,,, will come for the most part,,, from the New Testament,,, and particularly,,, from the book of Revelation where the future is unveiled.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verse 14 says: 14 He will glorify Me, because He will take from what is Mine and declare it to you.

His principal work,,, the Holy Spirits work,,, will be to glorify Christ.

By this we can test all teaching and preaching.

If it “glorifies Christ”,,, then it is of the Holy Spirit.

“He will take from what is Mine and declare it to you.” means that He will receive the great truths,,, that concern Christ,,, that glorifies Christ,,, and then,,, these are the things that He reveals to us today,,, all taken,,, or proven,,, from God’s word!

This is a never ending word,,, from God!

----------------------------------------------------------- Verse 15 says: 15 Everything the Father has is Mine. This is why I told you that He takes from what is Mine and will declare it to you.

All the attributes of the Father,,, belong to the Son as well.

It is these perfections,,, that Christ was speaking of,,, in verse 14.

The Spirit unveiled to the disciples the glorious perfections,,, the ministries,,, the offices,,, the graces,,, and,,, the fullness of our Lord and Savior,,, Jesus Christ.

All of these things were declared to the disciples,,, by the “Spirit of Truth”.

----------------------------------------------------------- As we learn more about the guiding capabilities of the Holy Spirit,,, it can almost seem unbelievable that we have this power given to us by God.

Especially if you think about the way that we don’t uphold our end of the bargain.

But,,, God knew that we would have this problem long before we ever thought about it,,, and He already had a plan in place that would keep us on the right path,,, if we will just take the time to listen as we should.

If you aren’t used to following the Holy Spirit,,, you might ask yourself,,, What is my guarantee that I can understand how to hear or to follow Him when the Holy Spirit attempts to lead me?

Well,,, you need to remember,,, that when Jesus first told His disciples about the ministry of the Holy Spirit,,, similar doubts were probably swirling around in their minds.

That’s why Jesus made sure to take the time during His last night with the disciples,,, to do as much as He could to relieve their fears,,, and give them a divine guarantee,,, regarding the job,,, of the Holy Spirit.

In John 14:16-17 it says: “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever. He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive Him because it doesn’t see Him or know Him. But you do know Him, because He remains with you and will be in you.”

Notice that this is the first of three different times where Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as “the Spirit of Truth” over the course of His teaching in John chapters 14-16 (see John 15:26 and John 16:13).

Three different times in three different chapters!

By repeating this phrase over and over again,,, Jesus was driving a truth into His disciples’ hearts — that the Holy Spirit is completely trustworthy and would never mislead them or misguide them.

In each instance where Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as “the Spirit of Truth,” He meant something that can be depended upon or something that is trustworthy, reliable, and true.

When Jesus used the word “Truth” to describe the Holy Spirit,,, it was the equivalent of saying, “You don’t need to worry that He will lead you astray or that He will lead you wrong.

You can depend upon Him and you can trust Him.”

Jesus wanted the disciples to relax and understand that they could depend on the Holy Spirit to lead them correctly.

Many Christians have a hard time following the Holy Spirit because they can’t see Him or physically hear His voice.

How many times do we catch ourselves saying,,, “Oh, how I wish Jesus was here” or, “I wish Jesus would step through the door and tell me what to do in this situation.”

But this isn’t what the Bible tells us to do.

Instead,,, its time for us to rejoice that we have the Holy Spirit in our life,,, because we have Jesus’ word,,, that He will never mislead us!

We may need to work on our ability to listen,,, but the Holy Spirit will always guide us to where we need to be.

We have the words of Jesus to convince us,,, just as it was meant to convince the disciples then,,, that,,, “He is the Spirit of Truth”!

This means you can be sure that when the Holy Spirit nudges your heart to do something,,, it is the right thing to do.

When He puts a thought into your mind,,, it is a right idea.

When He guides your spirit,,, He knows something you don’t,,, and He’s trying to lead you on the best possible path through the obstacles in your life.

He is always the Spirit of Truth,,, and as the Spirit of Truth,,, you can rely on the fact that He will never mislead you.

The bottom line is this:,,, If we’re going to experience real, supernatural Christian living,,, we must come to a place where we truly surrender our life,,, to the Holy Spirit.

He is always trying to coach and direct us,,, even when we’re not listening.

He is always as close as our next breath,,, dwelling in our spirits — speaking,,, directing,,, encouraging,,, and trying to help us make the correct decisions in life.

Whether or not we listen to Him,,, He is still there on the inside of us because that’s the job assignment He received from the Father.

So,,, when we decide,,, to listen to our Heavenly Guide and follow His advice,,, that is the when we benefit,,, from the Holy Spirit’s role in our lives.

We must learn to trust the Holy Spirit’s leadership and do what He instructs us to do.

For Him to help us,,, it requires our ears,,, our hearts,,, our trust,,, and our obedience.

Anything short of this will produce inferior results,,, results far short of the supernatural life you really desire.

Since He is the Spirit of truth,,, it means He is completely trustworthy,,,

So,,, It’s time to put aside our fears and objections,,, and begin to let Him do His job,,, like Jesus told us about,,, so many years,,, ago!

That’s Jesus’ guarantee!

----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- Hymn: 337 - Oakdale Hymn: 337 - Seminary Benediction ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------------